John Riddoch Rymill (13 March 1905 – 7 September 1968) was anAustralianpolar explorer, who had the rare second clasp added to hisPolar Medal.
Rymill was born atPenola, South Australia, the second son of Robert Rymill (7 July 1869 – 14 May 1906) and Mary Edith Rymill (née Riddoch), owners of Penola Station, and grandson ofFrank Rymill. He was educated atMelbourne Grammar School, where he first developed his love of polar literature, and at theRoyal Geographical Society in London, where he studied surveying and navigation.[1][2]
Rymill prepared himself for polar exploration with alpine experience in Europe, flying lessons at thede Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd,Hendon and courses at theScott Polar Research Institute,Cambridge, under ProfessorFrank Debenham. In 1931 he was appointed to theBritish Arctic Air Route Expedition toGreenland (1930–31) as surveyor and pilot. He also joined the subsequent1932-33 East Greenland Expedition led byGino Watkins[3] and which he led after Watkins' death inTuttilik Fjord.[4]
As a result of these Arctic experiences, Rymill determined to mount an Antarctic expedition to SouthGraham Land and theWeddell Sea south ofCape Horn, South America. After some difficulties securing sponsorship, he purchased an old sail training ship which he renamedPenola and with volunteer staff from Cambridge University and nine crew supplied by theRoyal Navy, sailed to the South Atlantic, where their first base wasSouth Georgia.[5] HisBritish Graham Land Expedition (1934–37)[6] discovered a southern, permanently frozen channel, later namedGeorge VI Sound, extending to theBellingshausen Sea.[2]
Rymill Coast inPalmer Land andRymill Bay inGraham Land,Antarctica, were named after him.
'The survey work of this expedition constitutes probably the largest contribution of accurately detailed surveys of the Antarctic Continent made by an expedition'.Citation of David Livingstone Centenary Gold Medal
In 1938, after completing the official account of the expeditionSouthern Lights, Rymill married Dr. Eleanor Mary Francis (17 June 1911 – 14 April 2003), a geographer whom he had met atCambridge. They returned to Australia to live at and manage the Old Penola Estate,[7] and Rymill served as a district councillor. During World War II he was commissioned in the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve. He died on 7 September 1968, like his father, as the result of a car accident, survived by his wife and their two sons and was buried at New Penola cemetery.[2][8][9]
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